Judge Tosses Child Endangerment Case Against North Shore Teacher

By Joe Kellard

Charges have been dismissed against a North Shore Middle School teacher who was accused by four pre-teen boys of watching pornography and fondling himself in his office. 

Aaron Kozlowski, 31, a physical education teacher from Long Beach, was cleared of all four charges of child endangerment Wednesday in Nassau District Court after one of the boys who leveled the charges against him recanted his accusation and two other boys subsequently refused to cooperate with authorities. 

A fourth boy stands by his story, claiming he had a better view of the alleged incident than his friends. The judge’s decision came after prosecutors told the judge Sept. 27 that they found there is insufficient proof to move forward with the case and were dismissing the charges, according to Newsday.

Kozlowski — who was put on paid leave since his arrest in April, was barred from coaching sports at the school in Glen Head, and is considering litigation against the boys’ families — said: 

"I've worked at the school for nine years and have never had any single issue. And then all of a sudden, my character is being questioned, my reputation is being questioned for something that never happened."

The four boys said that on Feb. 8 they witnessed Kozlowski sitting in his office masturbating while watching two naked men having sex on a computer. While the allegations were internally investigated by the school, they weren't reported to police until April, after which Kozlowski surrendered to authorities in Williston Park. He was charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.  

At the time of Kozlowski’s arrest, his attorney, Rick Ostrove, said that computer records would exonerate the teacher. Marc Gann, Kozlowski’s latest attorney, said prosecutors searched his client’s work computer and personal laptop, as well as his wife’s personal laptop, and found no pornography.